1. Peer Reflection
Unformatted Preview My statement: There are many things that inspire me in regards to
public health. One of the issues is a situation where mental health illnesses are no longer
considered to be diseases just like any other. For a long time, there has been a lot of
stigmatization that has been levelled against people who suffer from mental illnesses. In
some communities, it is still considered to be a taboo to discuss mental illnesses. In others,
such patients are kept out of the public realm due to embarrassment and ridicule that the
family may face from other people at the societal level. A community program that I would
implement is one that is aimed at creating awareness about mental illnesses and conditions
for everyone. Such a program would be in the form of providing education to people about
different types of mental conditions, treatment options, stressors, and risk factors that could
increase the susceptibility of members of the community to suffer from such a condition.
Doing this may also require the program to provide information about some of the
interventions that could be developed to address the issue. Information about some of the
medical facilities that provide mental health help could also play a critical role towards
addressing mental illnesses in regards to population health. The program could make a
huge difference in the community since mental illnesses have been on the rise in my
community in the last decade. Family issues and academic pressure are pushing even young
teens into mental conditions which affect their health and well-being (Lord, Nelson, &
Ochocka, 2016). Too much internet use has also been observed to have detrimental impacts
on the health of the people and this is something that the program would address not only
in the short-term but also in the long-term. Other peer’s statement: Bria: A program that I
would implement in my neighborhood is a mobile clinic that goes around and give the
homeless and families who need it, checkups, immunizations, insulin and other medical
needs. According to Gonzales, Suzannah. “In Chicago’s Epic Freeze, Some Homeless Feel
More Comfortable Outdoors.”, there are over 80,000 people in Chicago alone who’re
considered homeless. With the mobile clinic it will allow families and others without
insurance get free treatment without the hassle of worrying about insurance companies and
without putting people in debt. The reason I would target for low poverty families and
homeless people is because they can’t afford to get annual checkups from doctors, or they’re
insurance won’t cover the medications that they’ll need to help them survive. Also, some
people are afraid to enter hospital because they might associate it with death, or they may
have been judged. With the mobile clinic they can receive a better outlook on people in the
medical field and may feel more comfortable to be seen by someone they know, and by

2. someone they know care for them. With this program we would encourage others to apply
for Obama Care and educate the community about the viruses that may be going on in the
community at the moment. For example, right now NIU has a plethora of student who’re all
coming down with flu like symptoms. The mobile clinic would give out flu shots and educate
the NIU community on ways to stay germ free and ways to help get rid of the virus, and
what they could do to help stop spreading it as well. This relates back to public health
because it is all about educating those in the community and leading them into healthier
lifestyles, also because it’ll be targeting a high vas population that usually get over looked.
Tyler: Growing up, it’s always been mandatory for students to get immunization shots in
order for them to continue going to school. Although this was common in my neighborhood
that students in the area get vaccinated, there were students who didn’t. They were taken
out of school. This was not because families couldn’t afford it, but because parents of those
students didn’t believe in vaccinations and immunizations. They believed that vaccinations
were created to harm the body and our health. Seeing things like this in my neighborhood
would inspire me to implement a program in my community dedicated to educating those
who believe vaccinations are bad for our health. Parents would be able to receive
information from medical professionals on how and why their children (and themselves)
should be vaccinated. The program would include the health consequences one can face if
not vaccinated and how hard it will be for their children to get into schools and receive an
education if they are not vaccinated as well. In today’s society, most people are being
vaccinated but there are still a number of families that are not. I would implement this
program in as many schools as possible rather than health facilities. If this program is
implemented into schools, there is a better chance of families (who do not believe in being
vaccinated) attending the program at their child’s school rather than at a health care facility
due to the fact that these families typically don’t believe in western medicine. A “mini”
program would be implemented for children as well. Children should know what could
happen to their bodies without vaccinations. If a medical professional isn’t convincing
enough for parents to get their child vaccinated, maybe hearing it from the child themselves
may help. It could possibly show the seriousness of not getting vaccinated.